As Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast push the collectibility of MTG, Secret Lair drops have become big business. Alongside Universes Beyond crossovers and steadily more super Superdrops, Secret Lair has been getting some fascinating new releases. Released as part of Magic: the Gathering’s 30th-anniversary celebrations, these products, unfortunately, haven’t been without their shortcomings. For instance, the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit disappointed many players by being a limited-run product. And the less said about 30th Anniversary Edition, the better. Unfortunately, following its limited-run sale, it appears that the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit can’t get out of trouble. Despite being promised to ship before December, MTG players suspect shipping shenanigans are afoot.
Shipping in Secrecy
While the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit didn’t start off on the right foot, it should have been smooth sailing after its tumultuous sale. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case, as players have spotted Wizards being curiously sneaky about planned shipping dates. Highlighted by Reddit user u/Captain_Stretchy, it seems that “Wizards has removed the November 14th shipping date from the 30th Anniversary Countdown Secret Lair page.” Understandably, given WotC’s track record, this curious occurrence had alarm bells ringing for many players who purchased the product.
Tellingly, rather than being angry at Wizards of the Coast for this bizarre move, many MTG players were disappointed. Reddit user u/Aluroon, for instance, stated, “well that is disappointing. Not shocking, but disappointing. Wonder if we’ll get an announcement or if they’ll just string us along.” Alongside being unsurprised and disappointed, many MTG players noted that this is far from the first time this has happened. Across multiple subreddits, users were quick to point out that this situation feels oddly familiar, in fact. User u/MackMain72, for instance, mused, “I can’t wait to join the ‘Heads I Win, Tails You Lose’ club.”
Thankfully, while this shipping situation does feel oddly familiar, it may not be as bad as it first appears. R/MagicTCG, user u/lightsentry, stated, “I think taking away the shipping date from the banner is fine once you’ve hit the date.” However, this is only so long as Wizards ships the products despite taking off the date. Raising this point, u/lightsentry asked, “has anyone gotten a shipping notification that it has gone out?” Responding to this call, multiple players reported that, so far, they’ve heard nothing at all. Thankfully, this isn’t the case for all players. For instance, European users u/Bleghel and u/LartenHX stated that they’ve both recently received shipping notifications. Hopefully, this means that more shipping notifications will begin rolling in soon to users in and outside of Europe.
A December Delivery
While Reddit users weren’t exactly surprised about these potential Secret Lair shipping shenanigans, MTG players noted that they’re more disappointing than usual this time around. Unlike normal MTG Secret Lair drops, the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit’s shipping date had a specific purpose, after all. Featuring 30 individually packaged cards, the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit was lauded as the perfect advent calendar for MTG fans. Subsequently, Wizards wanted to ensure the product would arrive on time. Specifically, on the Secret Lair store page, Wizards states that the product is “timed to arrive with the start of December, so you can open one each day.”
Due to this steadfast delivery goal, Wizards also made the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit a limited-run product. This decision would supposedly ensure that the Countdown Kit was delivered on time so everyone could enjoy it properly. However, players suspect this promise was somewhat disingenuous now that the shipping date has mysteriously vanished from the website. As u/theecowarrior1 pointed out, shipping shouldn’t have been a problem at all, as the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit was meant to be pre-printed and ready to go. Mark Rosewater stated as much on Blogatog, claiming that “In order to get it out to people on time, we had to print it ahead of time.”
Now that shipping is seemingly going less than smoothly, MTG players, such as u/HonorTomOfFinland, are questioning, “why limit them if they’re not in hand to ship?” Quickly answering this question, many players suggested that Wizards is simply “addicted to creating FOMO.” While that FOMO ensured the product sold out incredibly quickly, it may have caused additional problems. “I bet the problem with shipping is some other fumble like overselling or not having their supply line laid out properly,” u/Dingus10000 suggested.
A Quick Response
Ultimately, while missing shipping notifications and the date disappearing are worrying, players may have been a little too eager to find fault with 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit. As u/Bleghel and u/LartenHX showcased, shipping notifications are starting to be delivered to some. While other users are still waiting for theirs, hopefully, the delay won’t be longer than a day or two. Admittedly, that hope may be somewhat optimistic, especially when you consider that the Heads I Win Tails You Loose Secret Lair still hasn’t been shipped. That’s even though the revised shipping date of October 24th, 2022, has come and gone. We can only hope that the 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit doesn’t suffer a similar year-long delay. If it does, maybe it will at least arrive in time for December 2023.
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